“Yeah I was looking over,” said Buttitta (38-3), who was trying to score a pin for nearly 90 seconds of the third period against Brick Memorial’s Joseph Ghione. Buttitta won, 10-0. “I couldn’t help it. They were having a great match.”

Cefolo (37-3), admitted the same.

“Of course I looked,” he laughed. “I always look.”

Buttitta and Cefolo will battle for the state title on Sunday.

The matches themselves were completely different. Jan Rosenberg of Morris Knolls battled Cefolo to a scoreless tie after one period. With the match tied at 3-3 late in the third period, Cefolo escaped to take a 4-3 lead and held on for the victory.

Cefolo had lost to Rosenberg earlier in the season, 9-4, and Cefolo said he couldn’t stop Rosenberg's shot in that matchup. In the rematch, Cefolo closed the distance with collar tie-ups and used whizzers to block Rosenberg’s shots.

“I’m coming in here with one goal. I’m here to win this tournament,” said Cefolo, a freshman. “But Buttitta looks tough. It should be fun.”